Types of Foreigners That Get Scammed In Thailand
Having spent a lot of time here in Thailand and getting to know the game a lot better than on my first visit, I’ve made a list just for fun about the types of foreigners that go there and end up getting taken for a ride.
I’m sure if you’ve been before and seen the way some people are with girls, you just think to yourself, “He’s going to be her ATM tonight.”
I’ve seen a lot of people get ripped off it’s even happened to me a few times in my early days. Nobody is immune. It’s like a never-ending cycle where some guys just keep falling into the same traps over and over.
Men that go there get played time and again, usually because they want to believe in something that just isn’t real. Hopefully, hearing this will help you spot the warning signs before you get burned.
Let’s start with the first type of scammable tourist.
1. The Romantic Dreamer
I thought I’d start with the most obvious one and the type of farang that all of us have probably met before.
The romantic dreamer comes to Thailand with an open heart and has this idea that he’s going to meet a Thai girl, they’ll fall in love, and live happily ever after.
The problem is, these people go to Thailand wearing their hearts on their sleeves and become instant targets for the bad types of people the ones looking to rinse as much out of them as possible.
It only takes them a couple of days after arriving in Thailand to be convinced that he’s finally met the one, the woman that he thinks is going to change his life, even though they’ve only spent a few evenings together.
He knows nothing about her, and she knows nothing about him, but she could see from a mile away that he’d be an easy catch and easy to convince that she really does like him.
Now, can you find true love in Thailand? Do people go to Thailand, fall in love, and everything works out? Yes, absolutely there are plenty of stories like that.
However, the types of girls that are trying to scam people can see who’s easily going to fall for their tricks, and a romantic dreamer is certainly one of them.
As soon as they clock that you’re there to meet someone special, they’re going to use charm, affection, tell you everything you want to hear, and make a lot of promises to string you along.
In the end, once they go back to their country, they’re led to believe they’re in a relationship with this special woman, and I’m sure you can guess what they end up doing? Yes, sending money to support them all the while, she’s already moved onto her next victim.
Don’t be one of these guys. It’ll end with your heart and your bank account broken.
From stories about Thailand, it might sound like it’s easy to get a woman over there, and it probably is but to get a decent one? Now that takes work and time.
2. The Bar Girl Savior
This type of farang, you’ll 100% know if you’ve spent any amount of time in the bars in Thailand.
He’s the one that gets close to a bar girl, falls for everything she says, and is completely manipulated into thinking that she’s different from the rest of the girls.
The guy thinks he’s found a hidden gem in the bars one that doesn’t really want to be there, one that he can take away from that scene and give a better life.
She’s just misunderstood, and nobody knows her like he does. She’s told him all about her life and how much she dreams of a better future.
The only thing he has to do to save her from that life is support her financially. By doing this, he thinks she’ll leave everything behind and get into a relationship with him one that’ll work out.
He genuinely does want to help her, so that’s what he does. He starts giving her money, taking her out, dating her, sending her money when he goes home, and eventually gets her out of the bar by giving her a salary.
Little does he know, that salary is just going toward her lifestyle because, nine times out of ten, she’ll continue to work at the bar even if she says she isn’t.
Many of the girls play into the savior type of farang because it’s easy for them. Once they’ve convinced the guy that they want a better life and he’s fallen for it, all they have to do now is keep rinsing money from him.
You do hear some success stories of men falling in love with a bar girl, getting married, starting a family, and everything being good. It does happen but you have to remember that times are different nowadays.
Especially with social media. Back then, the girls had to work to find customers. Nowadays, it’s just a swipe of a screen.
If you go to Thailand and meet a bar girl that you think is different and you genuinely want to start something with her, you need to check, double-check, and then triple-check everything about her and make 100% sure you’re going for it.
Although I don’t recommend anyone get into a relationship with a bar girl, it does happen pretty much every day but it rarely works out.
The savior learns too late that she didn’t want saving she wanted support.
3. The Long-Distance Lover
Now, this one is debatable. I personally think that long-distance relationships can be tough, and a lot of the time, either the man or the woman gets bored of waiting and just moves on with their life.
But again, sometimes, they really do work out, and things go smoothly.
For this type, though, I’m talking about the guys that come here for a short holiday like two weeks end up meeting a woman here, and keep the relationship going once he goes home.
Despite spending only a week or two together, he sends money regularly, books flights, and starts planning a future. He trusts every word she says over the phone and never questions why she’s always short on cash.
The thing is, when you come for a short holiday and meet a girl, that’s not really long enough to truly get to know them and understand what their intentions really are.
Yeah, she could be a genuine person and mean everything she says, or she could be a scammer that does this to every foreigner she meets on holiday.
It’s not uncommon for people like this to have multiple so-called long-distance boyfriends, each of them believing they’re the only one, each sending money to her because they think they’re in a genuine relationship with her.
The worrying thing about this type of scam is that it can go on for months or even years, with the guy being oblivious to what’s truly happening.
If you’re listening to this and it sounds like this is you, it’s time to do some deep diving into the woman you think you’re in a relationship with.
Check social media, dating apps, profiles anything you can find. Even better, next time you go to Thailand, turn up without telling her. You might just catch the scam in action.
4. The Divorcee Looking for a Fresh Start
For these guys, it’s tough. They come to Thailand after a messy divorce, most of them still not emotionally stable, and they dive right into the nightlife scene.
They’re getting attention from girls left, right, and center. They never got attention toward the end of their marriage, so this is exactly what they need… or so they think.
This man sees Thailand as a fresh start a place to find happiness, romance, and purpose again.
The problem is, although Thailand is amazing, and the nightlife is an experience hard to find elsewhere, it’s really not a good place to go if you’re down, lonely, or not emotionally stable.
The bars can chew you up, and once they’re done with you, they can just as easily spit you back out.
The neediness of being loved again and wanting affection that these types of men show makes them very easy targets for bar girls and scammers.
Once they open up about their divorce to these girls, then it’s time for the girls to work by showing compliments, being there for him, and telling him that she’d never let someone like him walk out of her life.
Basically, doing everything that he’s been wanting and now he finally has it.
He ends up moving too fast, ignoring signs of manipulation, and putting too much trust in someone he barely knows. Before long, he’s handing over money, gifts, and his time, hoping it buys security and love but it rarely does.
I know Thailand might sound like an amazing place for a single man, and it really is but I recommend that everyone come here with a level and clear head. You can easily get lost in feelings here.
5. The Shared-Business Dreamer
I’m sure if you’ve done any type of research about Thailand or listened to any stories, you would’ve heard about some of the nightmares that have followed from foreigners who’ve set up a business there.
A lot of people that come to Thailand really do fall in love with the place and contemplate living there, but how can they do that with no income? That’s where the bright idea of starting a business comes into play.
And that normally means launching a bar, restaurant, or guesthouse with a local partner.
He invests heavily, lets them handle the paperwork, and agrees to put everything in their name “just to make things easier” and following the actual laws of a local owning more of the business than the foreigner.
Some guys even go through with teaming up with a bar girl that, again, they think is different, and setting up a bar together.
Soon after, things go sideways. Profits vanish, the partner becomes distant, or the entire business is taken from under him. With no legal control or written agreements, he realizes too late that he funded someone else’s dream not his own.
Starting a business in Thailand is not as easy as it seems, no matter what type of business it is, and the law doesn’t actually work in their favor when it comes to being a business owner.
Not only do you have to find a profitable business idea, but you also have to find a trustworthy local to team up with both of those things are harder than they sound.
6. The Soft-Touch Tipper
Thailand is not a country where you’re required to tip. In fact, if you tip street food vendors, for example, they’ll sometimes refuse it and give it back to you.
However, when it comes to the bars and the bar girls, it’s a different story. Although tips aren’t required, they’re going to be expected.
For some strange reason, some guys think they’re better because they tip a lot and they tip big.
The soft-touch tipper wants to be generous, and that’s fine but this guy doesn’t know when to stop. He tips five times the normal amount, buys drinks for the whole bar, and gives money to anyone with a sad story.
While it might feel good in the moment, you’re just going to be attracting the worst of the worst leeches that see you as an easy target and will latch onto you until you stop spending.
Once word gets out that he’s an easy payday, more people show up with their hands out. Suddenly, girls that showed him no interest before are really attracted to him.
Suddenly, his kindness is being exploited. He finds himself being asked to fund everything from school fees to “sick buffalo” emergencies for people he barely knows.
It’s important to have fun on your holidays, but remember that those tips could be spent on something more. And if you’re a big tipper and bar-hopping, those tips really do add up fast.
7. The “Walking ATM”
This type of farang is a delight for scammers and bar girls that really want an easy payday.
This type of guy doesn’t want drama so he just pays. Every time there’s a problem, he throws money at it. The girlfriend wants a new phone? Paid. Her brother needs money after a bike accident? Done. He becomes a solution to every issue whether it’s real or not.
A lot of the time, these guys are blinded by lust and don’t even know what’s real and what’s not.
He thinks he’s helping his newfound girlfriend out, when in reality, she’s just using him as an ATM. And once that ATM is empty, she’ll be on her feet to find a new customer.
Once someone sees that he’s willing to pay without questioning, the demands never stop. Eventually, his money dries up and with it, the attention he once received disappears too.
If you do go to Thailand and meet a girl there whether it’s in a bar or not don’t become a walking ATM.
Some of these ladies are very good at manipulating you to feel sorry for them and end up dishing out money.
You’ll hear all types of stories for why they need money: family emergencies, her kids need money for food, rent is due.
I mean, some of these stories might be true, but if you think you’re the only one she’s feeding these stories to, then I’d think again.
It’s like these girls have a script, and the longer you stay in the bars, the more you’ll hear it. Listen to what they have to say, but let it go in one ear and out the other.
8. The Drunk Alchy Tourist
These guys party hard, drink too much, and love a night out in places like Bangkok and Pattaya. While fun in the moment, he becomes an easy mark. He loses his phone, gets overcharged, or wakes up missing his wallet.
Being in holiday mode is fun, but when you drink too much every night and aren’t aware of what’s going on, well, that’s when bad things can happen.
It’s even worse when these guys start being aggressive and causing trouble with locals and other tourists normally, they get a good seeing-to.
A lot of nomads, retirees, and other Westerners move to Thailand and never really get out of holiday mode, which leads to them going broke fast and having to go back home.
A night out in Thailand is the best, but you really need some self-control and the ability to say no especially if you move here long-term.
Being drunk and unaware in a foreign country is the perfect recipe for being taken advantage of.
So go out, have some fun, have some drinks but know your limit, know when enough is enough. Don’t become an easy target for these scammers.
9. The Online Dater
Here’s another type of foreigner that you’ve probably heard stories about the online dater.
This happens a lot before they’ve even visited Thailand. There are many apps designed specifically for dating Thai women, and these apps are normally a place where scammers will be lurking.
So, let’s say you’re sitting in your house in your country. You’ve heard all the stories about Thai women, and you want to finally visit the country and meet one for yourself.
If you can’t go to Thailand right away because of work and other commitments, then the next best thing is looking online.
Whether you meet someone on Facebook, Tinder, or the other 100+ different apps, you still have to be careful and do some vetting.
A lot of the time, girls will be upfront and have on their profile that they’re only working and looking for ST (short-term) or LT (long-term).
Some scammers, though, will have profiles saying they’re looking for a serious relationship, a future that leads to marriage, or something else that makes them sound like a normal girl.
Eventually, the online dater starts talking to a girl. She’s beautiful, sweet, and saying all the right things. She wants exactly the same as he wants he’s hit the jackpot here.
They talk for a couple of months, and he arranges to go over in a couple of months to finally start this relationship.
But while he’s waiting to go there, she starts having problems. She’s just lost her job and needs help with rent and food. Her child is sick for the eighth time this month, and her clumsy brother has had another bike accident.
They’ve never met, but he’s emotionally hooked. He thinks she’s genuine and the one, so of course, he starts helping her financially.
Often, she’s not who she says she is. Sometimes, she’s not even a “she.” Many online scammers work in teams or catfish from fake profiles.
And just before he’s meant to go to Thailand or in some cases, just arrived she’ll vanish into thin air, either deleting her profile or completely blocking him.
It’s only then that he realizes he’s been scammed and the whole thing was a setup from the start.
So yes, with this one, if you’re going to be using dating apps before you get to Thailand or even once you’re there you still need to be careful and properly vet who you’re talking to.
And always, no matter how confident you are that she’s legit, video call her.
Although this doesn’t 100% confirm her intentions, you can at least see on video chat who you’re actually talking to.
This leads me to my next one.
10. The Visa Boyfriend
This scam has always been around but has gotten more common since the world locked down a few years ago, and the scammers have found this to be easy.
How this works is the farang will meet a girl online or while they’re in Thailand most probably a bar. They get friendly and spend some time together, maybe even a holiday girlfriend experience.
Once he finally goes back home, they carry on their relationship, and he really wants to make a go at this because he can see this working out well.
He wants to be with her, but with work and commitments at home, he can’t get to Thailand, so he suggests that she goes to him.
She’s really excited. She shows super interest in going to his country and visiting him maybe even drops hints that she’d like to move there so she can be with him and start a life together.
The truth is, this is just going to be another method to rinse his bank account. She probably has no intention of going to his country why would she if he’s already supporting her?
What’ll happen is she’ll say she needs X amount of money for a passport, X amount for an agency fee, and X amount to pay for all the documents and requirements.
The farang, being love-struck and thinking he’s not just randomly giving her money but giving her money for something important, goes ahead and starts paying for it all.
Once she’s spent it, she’ll say she needs more money for this or that, and more money to continue the visa process.
It’s a never-ending cycle of money, and in reality, she’s just spending the money on herself or saving it. There never was any visa.
Once the boyfriend realizes he’s just wasting money on the visa process and questions her, she’ll eventually just say she’s been denied or if she thinks she can’t get any more money from him in the future, she might just block him.
If you’re currently going through the visa process with your Thai girlfriend, I highly recommend you be there for the whole process so you know 100% what’s needed and where your money is actually going.
11. The Lender
This one is about the other shady tourists and expats you may meet during your trips.
When you go out in Thailand, you can meet people from all walks of life both locals and tourists. But just because you meet people from your side of the world doesn’t always mean that they’re good people.
Many times, these can be just as bad as the scammers.
One type of person like this to watch out for is the ones that’ll ask to borrow money from you and promise to pay you back before you leave.
How this works is, let’s say you’re drinking in a bar, and you get chatting with another farang. He’s been there a while and knows the score.
He offers to show you around the decent bars, best places to go, and people to watch out for.
It might sound like he’s being a decent bloke, but eventually, he might ask if he can borrow some money because he’s had some type of problem with his bank or something.
Of course, it’s up to you what you do with your money, but I’d stay away from lending anyone money because the chances are, you’re not going to see it again.
People like this are normally over-stayers. They came to Thailand with hopes and a big dream but spent all their time in the bars and slowly lost everything.
Instead of going back home, they stay in Thailand and just scrape by, still hanging out in the bars and hoping for handouts.
So again, it’s up to you what you do with your money, but think twice about lending it to anyone.
12. The “Thailand is So Cheap” Guy
Thailand is not what it used to be. A good night out nowadays is going to set you back a few dollars it’s really not as cheap as people make out.
Even outside the bars, this type of person compares everything to Western prices and thinks he’s getting a deal even when he’s being overcharged. He doesn’t bother to learn local rates and pays whatever’s asked without question.
Locals quickly realize they can charge triple, and he’ll still say, “What a bargain!” Over time, he’s drained by inflated prices, padded bills, and inflated rent. Thailand isn’t as cheap as it looks when you’re constantly overpaying.
13. The “Trusting” Guy
When you’re visiting Thailand for the first time, you’ll notice just how friendly people are compared to your own country.
Locals in Thailand will happily help you out and do what they can to make you enjoy your stay there.
It makes trusting them easy but not every local has the best intentions.
The trusting guy believes locals are always more honest and trustworthy but ignores the fact that scammers want you to feel that way.
That blind trust often leads to betrayal. Whether it’s a “trusted friend” disappearing with his money or a Thai partner draining his bank account.
Just because someone is friendly and nice, you still have to remember that trust needs to be earned not assumed based on nationality.
A million people have lost everything in Thailand before by trusting the wrong person, and there’ll be a million more in the future. Don’t be one of them.
Ending
Well, there you have it just a few of the types of foreigners that go to Thailand and end up getting scammed in the long run.
As I mentioned in one of the points, come to Thailand with your head screwed on. Don’t be emotionally unstable, don’t leave your brain at the airport, and never trust anyone too easily locals or other farangs.
Thailand is a great place to visit, especially on holiday, so don’t ruin it by allowing yourself to become an easy target for the shady people out there.